site.btaElectricity Export Grows, Consumption Continues to Drop - Electricity System Operator

Sofia, July 25 (BTA) - Between January 1 and July 22, Bulgaria exported 3,356,765 MWh of electricity, which is by 25.56 per cent more compared to the same period of 2017, show data of the country's Electricity System Operator. Electricity production dropped by 2.03 per cent to reach 24,767,954 MWh and consumption, by 5.29 percentage points to reach 21,411,189 MWh.

The ESO's previous data - for the period between January 1 and June 6 - showed an increase in electricity export by 22.53 per cent and a drop in electricity production by 3.14 per cent, compared to the like period of 2017.

From January 1 to July 22 this year, the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plan and the thermal power plants Maritsa East 2, AES Gulubovo and ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 produced a total of 21,378,890 MWh of electricity, which is by 7.03 per cent more compared to the same period of 2017.

RES production dropped by 3.47 per cent year-on-year, accounting for 693,598 MWh of electricity transmitted through the power grid.

Wind power production decreased by 2.70 per cent year-on-year to reach 404,797 MWh.

Photovoltaic power plants produced 215,360 MWh of electricity, down by 1.06 per cent from January 1-July 22 last year.

Hydroelectricity production amounted to 3,255,446 MWh, up by 53.31 per cent year-on-year.

Biomass-fired power plants produced 83,366 MWh of energy, which is an annual decrease by 12.32 percentage points.

The participation of biomass-fired plants in the distribution grid increased by 4.74 percentage points from 90,359 MWh in January 1-July 22 last year to 94,640 MWh in the same period of 2018. A drop was observed in the participation of photovoltaic plants, by 13.37 per cent (from 590,697 MWh to 511 720 MWh), RES, by 10.96 per cent (from 1,059,248 MWh to 943,117 MWh), and wind power plants, by 10.96 per cent (from 378,192 MWh to 336,757 MWh).